1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to dolly apparatuses, and more particularly, to a device for transporting and installing a door.
2. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
In the construction of a residence or business office, the fitting and hanging of doors is a difficult and awkward task. The door must, of course, be made to fit the door opening with reasonably close tolerances so that the door can be readily swung open or closed and, when closed, be reasonably snug around all edges. After fitting the door to the opening, hinges must be attached to one edge of the door and to a corresponding door jamb so the door will operate in a desirable manner. All fitting operations and hinge placements require that the door be held firmly on edge, and, unless some type of mechanical jig or vise is employed, it requires two workers to do the job. Accordingly, there has been a need for a mechanical device to hold the door in a suitable position for those operations so that one man may work alone.
Several devices are known to fulfill such purposes. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,503,388; 2,967,627; 3,643,935; 3,861,662; 4,050,671; and 4,278,244 are illustrative examples. However, these devices, for the most part, include levering means and lifting jack mechanisms, and therefore, are somewhat complicated. Furthermore, all of these devices are rather large and are not collapsible.
Several other patents are also known to describe devices for carrying and installing a conventional door panel. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,662 issued to Morse on Jan. 21, 1975 describes a combined door carrier and hanging device adapted to support a door panel vertically with the hinged edge of the door in a upper, horizontal position to permit a person to prepare the door for hanging. U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,141 issued to Willis on May 24, 1988 describes a collapsible hand cart for carrying a door standing on edge. U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,309 issued to Bodell on Jul. 6, 1993 describes a cleat for supporting sheet goods during alignment and fastening to underlying support structures. U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,405 issued to Miller on Oct. 5, 1993 describes a drywall support device for temporary support of drywall, such as ceiling installation, during installation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,090 issued to Bross on Feb. 22, 1994 describes a door dolly apparatus.
However, none of the above inventions describe a combined door carrier and hanging device having only one vise mechanism for selectively gripping a door inserted therebetween. Additionally, none of the above inventions describe a combined door carrier and hanging device having an longitudinal slot formed therein for receiving one entire side of a door panel therebetween. Moreover, none of the above inventions describe a combined door carrier and hanging device having a longitudinal slot formed in an elongated carrier structure with a vise formed at one end only of the elongated carrier structure for enabling a conventional door panel to be selectively gripped by a substantial length of the longitudinal slot.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.